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NiGHTS (character)
NiGHTS (character)/Old should be merged with this article. Nights (or NiGHTS) is a video game character and the protagonist of the games Nights into Dreams and Nights: Journey of Dreams, developed and published by Sega. The character wears a purple jester style hat and outfit, with a diamond-shaped red jewel on his chest (In the archie comics mini series, this was said to be a shard of a red Ideya sphere that broke off and latched onto his chest). NiGHTS is usually referred to as a'' male'' but, he is actually genderless as well as all the other nightmaren including, Reala. Character NiGHTS (always capitalized except for the i) is a first-level Nightmaren, created by Wizeman to steal Red Ideya. Despite being one of Wizeman's most powerful creations, NiGHTS is a remarkably mischievous free spirit who did not like taking orders, so much so that Wizeman has on multiple occasions, imprisoned him within Nightopia to keep him out of the way. NiGHTS asks for the assistance of the Visitors (Claris and Elliot in Nights into Dreams and William and Helen in Nights: Journey of Dreams) in defeating Wizeman presumably because NiGHTS doesn't like Wizeman, and not because NiGHTS is inherently 'good'. NiGHTS' rival and sibling is, Reala. NiGHTS is officially androgynous, as stated by creator, Yuji Naka, and often changes to suit the individual people and scenery NiGHTS encounters. It should be noted that all nightmaren are genderless, including Reala. Gender The original designers of NiGHTS wanted NiGHTS to appeal to a wider audience and saw gender would hold their new character back. During an interview, Takashi Iizuka stated, "NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player." In Nights: Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS is referred to as a male, but he is clearly voiced by a woman, causing confusion amongst fans, but NiGHTS voice is supposed to sound like that of a child as the dreamers are children and therefore does not mean that NiGHTS is female. However, NiGHTS does appear more feminine in Journey of Dreams than the original game. Personality Nights detests being ordered around or restrained, and freely flies through the skies of Nightopia. Nights is full of curiosity, and loves anything new or unusual. She sometimes scares or makes fun of people. Although Nights doesn't have a strong sense of righteousness, she is unhappy about Wizeman's attempts to eliminate Nightopia. Nights personality is described by Iizuka as "a mirror of the child's personality." The player is supposed to become Nights, thus being either gender depending on the interpretation of the player. They wanted the character to speak more often in Journey of Dreams, so they decided to give the character a voice to play into the fact that the player decides the gender, and a voice that is supposed to sound like that of a child as the dreamers are children. The character was also given an English accent to meet the style of the games. Abilities Besides flying, Nights shows various other abilities in both games. In the first game, Nights shows the ability to transform into a bobsled, an ability that was expanded upon in the sequel with the introduction of persona masks. Each mask allows Nights to change forms and abilities accordingly, including those of a dragon, rocket and dolphin. Along with the persona masks, Nights is also able to transform into a boat and a roller coaster, as well as rolling up in a ball to roll down slides (a possible reference to Sonic Team's title character Sonic the Hedgehog). Nights can create small portals called paraloops with twinkle dust, a bright substance that emits from his hands when he flies in a circle. Home Nights comes from the dream world of Nightopia (referred to in-game as the Night Dimension), and takes shape according to the thoughts, ideas, personalities, and will of the Visitors (humans from the real world). Nights lives alongside Owl (a brown owl who acts as elder and guide in Nights: Journery of Dreams) and the Nightopians. NiGHTS however is a Nightmaren and henceforth, his origin of creation is in the dark realm of Nightmare. Nights does what he can to stop Wizeman from taking over. Interaction with other characters Nights sometimes scares or makes fun of people, but is playful in nature and shows kindness to Visitors. The Visitors: (Claris, Elliot, Will and Helen) Nights is kind towards the children in both games, helping all four of them to defeat Wizeman on two separate occasions. Nights shows the children around different Dream Worlds and works together with them to dispatch numerous Nightmaren. Owl: Nights shows disrespect for Owl on a regular basis, but also shows a sort of friendship with the bird. Owl often seems frustrated with Nights' rambunctious behavior, and occasionally lectures her, but to no avail. Wizeman: NiGHTS shows a special distaste for Wizeman. Nights is glad to put a halt to Wizeman's plans, and has defeated Wizeman in combat twice. Any orders given to Nights by Wizeman are in vain, as NiGHTS simply continues the rebellion against the creator of Nightmare. It should be noted that the reason NiGHTS rebels against his master is not because NiGHTS is good and Wizeman is evil, but simply due to NiGHTS' extreme dislike for Wizeman and his ideals. Reala: Nights' relationship with Reala appears complicated. Nights seems to still hold Reala as a friend or at least a former one, while Reala pities Nights for rebelling against Wizeman. Reala often plays on Nights' mercy, using it as opportunity to imprison her. Reala sometimes refers to Nights as a "sibling." Creation and conception Naoto Oshima was the original Nights designer and Kazuyuki Hoshino was the character designer for the video game Nights into Dreams. Though Nights into Dreams was left without a sequel for over a decade, the character continued to appear within games developed by Sonic Team as a cameo, showing much affection for the character and the game. This led to the eventual sequel, Nights: Journey of Dreams. Naoto Oshima had left Sega by that point, so Kazuyuki Hoshino was placed in charge of character design for Nights: Journey of Dreams. Takashi Iizuka, the lead game designer, felt that with Hoshino, they captured the style used for the character in the original game. Reception Referring to Nights into Dreams, IGN said "NiGHTS was essentially Sonic in the air..." The IGN review of Nights: Journey of Dreams called Nights a "mysterious creature." The IGN reviewer noted, "strangely NiGHTS and all other characters in Nightopia are from England?" but said the voice acting was "decent, if not a bit over-the-top." In the English version of the game, Nights is voiced by American voice actress Julissa Aguirre. In his review of Nights: Journey of Dreams, Kevin Vanord of GameSpot described the character as an "androgynous jester." VanOrd said, "NiGHTS is smoothly animated", but said Nights' "vocal personification (may not be) everyone's cup of tea." VanOrd wrote, "The jester is genderless... and the accompanying voice is, well, correspondingly confused. But whether you think NiGHTS sounds like a young woman or a young boy, it's a good fit for the character." Appearances Nights also starred in Archie Comics' 3 comic adaption of Nights into Dreams as well as another 3 comic mini-series about Nights coming to the real world. Nights is also a playable character in Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sega Superstar Tennis. However, in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and Sega Superstar Tennis, Nights is wearing his Nights: Journey of Dreams outfit. Players can also fly as Nights through familiar Nights into Dreams landscapes in Sega Superstars which involved using a special motion censer camera call the EyeToy. Christmas Nights into Dreams Nights also starred in a single level demo game for the Sega Saturn called Christmas Nights into Dreams that featured many date related events not available in the original game. Around the Christmas season, Nights' outfit changes into a red and white Santa-like outfit to match the change in scenery. Other Cameos Over the years, Nights has made many cameos in other Sonic Team games, including Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX (in the Casinopolis level), Sonic Adventure 2 (in the City Escape and Radical Highway levels), Shadow the Hedgehog, as in Lethal Highway, the title screen appears in a billboard without any text. In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, the player can raise a Chao that resembles Nights by feeding them Fly animals and energies. Nights also appears in Sonic Pinball Party and has his own pinball board themed after Nights into Dreams. Another appearance is in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg as a hatchable creature. The Circus Hat in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg resembles Nights' purple jester hat and allows you to roll an egg by walking on top of it. Nights has also made a guest appearance in Phantasy Star Online I & II Plus, in an Episode 2 quest. Recently NiGHTS has appeared in Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing as the flag waver (fulfilling a similar role to Lakitu's in the Mario Kart series). According to Sega, NiGHTS' addition was last minute due to the fans' demanding his inclusion in the game. Sega has also rumored that NiGHTS might become a playable downloadable character based on the sales of the game. Gallery File:NiDNiGHTS.jpg|''NiGHTS into Dreams...'' File:Swanky.jpg|''Journey of Dreams'' File:Modern_NiGHTS.png|''Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity'' Trivia *Despite the common fan belief that NiGHTS is male or female, and the fact that Reala referred to NiGHTS as a boy in Journey of Dreams, Sega has confirmed multiple times that NiGHTS is genderless as well as all the other nightmaren. *All of NiGHTS' cameos in the background of Radical Highway were removed and replaced with chao images in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. See also * Nights into Dreams * Nights: Journey of Dreams External links * [http://www.sega.com/games/game_temp.php?game=nights&id=nights_hp_mpb Nights: Journey of Dreams at Sega of America] * [http://www.sonicteam.com/nights/index.html Official Sonic Team Nights website] (japenese) Category:Characters Category:Nights into Dreams Characters Category:Journey of Dreams Characters Category:Nightmarens Category:Nightmarens (Nights into Dreams) Category:Nightmarens (Journey of Dreams)